For some special reason, the trio configuration has been one of the most popular formats in Latin music. Our music catalogues have always listed dozens of trios even though the composition of the groups may vary. Some of the original trios included a guitarist and two singers. Later versions featured two guitarists and a lead singer, in which one of the guitarists was singing two-part harmony. Usually, the lead singer also played the maracas. In more recent times, the trios have been composed of three guitarists who sing three-part harmony.

Puerto Rico has produced more than its share of musical trios such as Trío Aurora, Trío Borinquen, Trío Boricua, Trío Armónico, Trío Johnny Rodríguez, Trío Marcano, Trío Vegabajeño, Trío San Juan, Trío Galón, Trio Los Antares, Trío Los Hispanos, Trío Los Murcianos, Trío Quisqueya and Trío Julito Rodríguez.

Cuba's trios include Trio Servando Díaz, Trío Oriental, Trío Machin, Trío Matamoros, and Trío Habana. México has given us Los Tres Reyes, Los Tres Diamantes, Trío Calaveras, Los Bribones, Los Tres Ases, Trío Tariácuri and Trío Los Pancbos.

Featured here are three legendary trios hailing from Puerto Rico, Cuba and México, respectively: Trío Borinquen, Trío Matamoros and Trío Los Panchos. Since they were among the earliest trios to be organized, the first two represent examples of the early trio format that featured a vocal duet accompanied by guitar. Los Panchos represent the modern, fully developed trio, with three guitars and voices singing three-part harmony.

TRÍO BORINQUEN

Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández organized this group in New York City in 1925. It was the first trio of its type in the history of Latin American music. The original members were Manuel "Canario" Jiménez, Salvador Ithier and Rafael Hernández.

Canario sang lead voice; Ithier supplied the second voice and played second guitar, and Rafael played lead guitar and very rarely, added a third voice. Canario had a brief stay with the trio and was replaced by Antonio Mesa, a tenor from the Dominican Republic. Before leaving the group in 1925, Canario recorded the following songs with the Trío Borinquen for Columbia Records: El Son de Monchín, Pobre Borinquen, Dulces Besos, Elisa, Muñoz, Laura Mía, Alma Boricua and Monchín del Alma.

In 1927, with Antonio Mesa as lead singer, the trio recorded many songs for Columbia Records. Among the most popular are La Muñeca, Ansias Locas, Me la Pagarás, Cachito de Cielo, Linda Quisqueya and Menéalo Que Se Empelota. Trío Borinquen visited Puerto Rico in 1928 and made several personal appearances of a memorable nature. Rafael Hernandez's group then moved on to the Dominican Republic, where in order to attract the public's good will, it became known as Trio Quisqueya and made several recordings under that name.

Between 1925 and 1931, Trío Borinquen recorded 121 songs; Rafael Hernández wrote 54 of them. The 1920s were a period of patriotic and nostalgic sentiment for Puerto Ricans living in New York. It was during that time that Hernández wrote some of his best patriotic songs. In 1928, Trío Borinquen recorded two of them: ¡Oh, Patria Mía! (Oh My Motherland!) and Mi Patria Tiembla (My Motherland Trembles).

The group remained active until 1931, when it made its last recording. That last session was comprised of nine songs, including Alegría, El Peligro de Amar, Me Quiero Casar and one very appropriately titled Último Adiós. Trio Borinquen shall always be remembered as the prototype of the Latin American trio.

TRÍO MATAMOROS

On May 8, 1925, a chauffeur from Santiago de Cuba named Miguel Matamoros organized a trio that would last for thirty-five years. That group is credited with bringing back the original son into fashion. It's also recognized as one of the musical groups that in the 1920s fostered the lilting, slow-tempo bolero and made it the most favored format among dancing couples.

Miguel Matamoros made a living as a taxi driver in his native Santiago de Cuba. During his spare time, he sang in a trio with Miguel Bisbe and guitarist Rafael Cuero. At that time the group was called Trío Oriental. One memorable afternoon, at a party celebrating Matamoros' thirty first birthday, Cueto introduced a young singer to Miguel. His name was Siro Rodríguez. They sang together and blended in so well that they decided to form a trio. Starting on that May afternoon in 1925, they would perform together for the next 35 years.

In 1928, they had the good fortune to be discovered by a certain Mt. Terry, the artistic director for RCA Victor, during his visit to Santiago de Cuba. A short time later, Matamoros, Cueto and Rodríguez found themselves in the RCA Victor Studios in Camden, New Jersey, ready to record. Before they began, the recording studio director asked them what the trio's name was. When they told him it was Trío Oriental, he objected. It seems that there were already two other groups with that name. He suggested that they use the leader's name and this is how the group became known as Trío Matamoros.

They recorded twenty-one songs in three days. The first ones to be released were the bolero Olvido and the son El Que Siembra su Maíz. Both became instant hits. By the time the musicians returned to Cuba, they were extremely popular. That created some problems for Matamoros, who at that time was the personal chauffeur of Don Bartolomé Rodríguez, a wealthy businessman. He had obtained his permission to make a trip away from Santiago de Cuba, but Miguel didn't tell him the purpose of the trip. Cristóbal Díaz Ayala told this story in one of his books:

"Don Bartolomé Rodríguez, a wealthy businessman from Santiago de Cuba, was returning home in his car driven by his private chauffeur. They were passing by a record shop known as La Dichosa. Don Bartolome noticed that there was a big crowd in front of the store.

"He ordered the driver to stop and asked one of the bystanders what was going on. The man told him that a new record had arrived and every body wanted to buy it. Don Bartolomé asked his chauffeur to buy a copy for him. After they got home and while he washed the car, Miguel Matamoros could hear his employer listening on the victrola to Olvido and El Que Siembra su Maíz.

"Don Bartolomé asked his driver if he had a relative by the name of Miguel Matamoros. The chauffeur/musician told him: 'Remember that four months ago I asked you for a one month's leave? Well, it was to go to New York to record.' Next morning, his boss notified Miguel Matamoros that he was no longer his chauffeur because an artist of his stature deserved a better position and he couldn't possibly have him as his chauffeur."

Trío Matamoros developed a particular sound, with guitarist Rafael Cueto playing a tumbao by hitting the side of his guitar with his hand as he strummed it. It is very audible in their recording of Son de la Loma. Matamoros combined several genres in his compositions, adding the following hybrid forms to the Cuban music repertoire: guajira-son, bolero-son, guaracha-son, and pregón-son.

Miguel Matamoros composed, sang and recorded more than two hundred songs. One of them, Son de la Loma, is considered to be one of the best example of the son. Actually, Matamoros wrote that tune before the trio was formed Among the trio's additional big hits are La Mujer de Antonio, Lágrimas Negras, El Paralítico, Veneración, Las Maracas de Cuba and Frutas del Caney.

The trio assumed different configurations, as dictated by the market. At times it would be known as Septeto Matamoros: Conjunto Matamoros, and even as Orquesta Matamoros.

However, it would be as Trio Matamoros that they would be best remembered. Trío Matamoros officially said goodbye to its public on May 10, 1960, during the radio program "Jueves de Partagas" in Havana, Cuba.

TRIO LOS PANCHOS

In the history of Latin American popular music there has never been a trio of voices and guitars more renowned than Los Panchos. They set the style for modern trios and have been much imitated, but never equaled. Their influence has been so strong that respected Latin music historians divide the history of the Latin American trios in two parts: before and after Trío Los Panchos.

The early roots of Trío Los Ponchos may be traced back to 1938. That year, Alfredo "El Gúero" Gil joined the Hermanos Martínez Gil Trío. In 1940, Alfredo became a member of El Charro Gil y sus Caporales. In that group he met another future Pancho, Jesús "Chucho" Navarro. The group Charro Gil y sus Caporales included El Charro Gil, his wife, singer Eva Garza, along with Alfredo Gil and Chucho Navarro. One night, while visiting New York's Club Broadway Casino, Alfredo Gil heard a Puerto Rican singer whose voice he liked. His name was Hernando Avilés.